Chapter One Hundred and Ninety Nine
Instead of going home, Angelo headed to the police station, careful not to disturb any of the blood on his hand. Taking a sample, he immediately cleaned himself up and took his illegally acquired evidence down to forensics in order to try and prove that Hugo had been on Lou DeBono's boat at some point and could therefore have killed him.
"Is life always this dramatic here?" Amber wondered when she, Brett, Charlie and Joey finally sat down together.
Charlie shook her head with a somewhat anxious laugh.
"You have no idea!" she said.
"Summer Bay is pretty busy for a town without so much as a Starbuck's," Brett said.
"You've got that right," Joey said. "What was Angelo thinking?"
"I don't even know if he was," Charlie admitted. "At the very least he could lose his job. At worst, he'll be up on assault charges in the morning and with his past..."
"What's his past?" Amber wondered, greedy for gossip.
"He killed a colleague," Charlie explained unhappily. "It was an accident and he was let off and allowed to return to the force but..."
She sighed again.
"Who knows what's going to happen now?"
As expected, Angelo was dragged in front of his boss in the morning. In what he believed to be an overreaction, he had been suspended from duty, although fortunately, Hugo had opted not to press charges. He left the station with his tail between his legs.
Once word had got round the Bay, Charlie couldn't help but feel sorry for him, although she couldn't help but think he was a complete idiot for punching Hugo, no matter what might have provoked him. She was just glad that she didn't have to investigate a colleague again. That was never an easy business.
Sitting in the Diner with Joey and enjoying what was left of her week off, Charlie pondered what they might do with their day.
"I need to look for jobs," Joey said, waving the newspaper she'd bought in order to search for some kind of employment.
"But that's boring!" Charlie protested, making Joey laugh.
"That's kind of easy to say when you're secure for life in your chosen career," she pointed out.
Charlie mumbled that she might be right.
"But it's my week off and it's Christmas..." she said, taking Joey's hand.
"Technically Christmas has gone," Joey replied.
"Yes but it's Christmas week. And then it's your birthday. And then New Year. We should be doing fun stuff!"
"Fun stuff that costs money?" Joey asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I can pay."
"But that's not fair."
"But I love you," Charlie said. "I want to spoil you for a bit."
Joey smiled at her and squeezed her hand before they were interrupted by Charlie's mobile ringing.
Hugo sat in his hotel room, having moved out of the farm but feeling completely unable to go and live in Martha and Jack's house with Gina and Xavier. He was ashamed of how he had treated Martha, although he believed that it was completely necessary. It just broke his heart to see how upset she was and that it was all his fault. And he was still stunned by Angelo's attack the night before. The sooner he got himself safely out of town, the better life would be for everyone, he decided.
"I'm so sorry," Charlie frowned.
Watson had called her, short staffed and needing someone to go with her to go and find Orson, Donna's gardener who had been spotted along the coast. With Angelo now out of action, Charlie was the leader of the case and despite being on leave, she felt she had no choice but to go in. Talking to Orson could easily lead them to the truth about Lou's killer and that wasn't an opportunity that Charlie could morally pass up.
"Don't worry," Joey said. "I'll look for job, you'll work for a bit and then we'll do something nice tonight, okay?"
Charlie smiled and kissed her, grateful that Joey was always so understanding.
Angelo sat at home, gathering his thoughts and trying to clear his head. He had got the evidence he wanted and he'd feel surer about it once his friend from the lab had phoned him unofficially with the results on the blood match. But he had potentially messed everything up by getting suspended from the force. For starters, solving the case was going to be that much harder without having any kind of authority. And if he didn't solve the case then he would lose everything. Bringing down the human trafficking ring was key to him formally being allowed to start his life over. It was the whole premise of being let out of jail and having the charges against him dismissed. And now everything was in peril.
Joey had made her cup of coffee last longer than should have been possible and spent the past hour and a half ringing round every company she could find to ask for application forms.
"Hey," Aden said, plonking himself down in front of her. "You look stressed."
"I'm fine," Joey said. "I'm just trying to find a job."
He sighed.
"Yeah, I know that one," he said.
"What about the job at The Sands?"
"I don't know how long it's going to last," Aden admitted. "I mean, I haven't exactly got into trouble yet but I did stand my boss's daughter up and abandon her at the formal so I'm not in Daddy's good books right about now. He could get rid of me at any moment."
Joey pulled a face.
"Why doesn't the world realise how amazing we are and what we have to offer in our chosen career paths?" she wondered.
Aden laughed.
"I have no idea," he said. "It's a shame though because everything was working out so great on the trawler until..."
As if on cue, John waltzed into the Diner for his lunch. Aden and Joey both glared at him. If he noticed, he didn't respond.
Charlie and Watson had been driving up and down the coast for a while and both were frustrated. Watson was also feeling guilty for dragging Charlie out on her day off for what appeared to be a wild goose chase.
"Don't worry," Charlie said. "I was bugging Joey anyway."
Watson laughed and teased her about there being trouble in paradise.
"Nothing like that," Charlie assured her. "It's just that I'm in holiday mode and she's desperately trying to find a job. I'm not sure I'm being very helpful! Especially as I've been really excited about Christmas and New Year and everything. Plus, it's her twenty sixth birthday in a couple of days."
She grinned, thinking about all the fuss she intended to make of her partner.
"That's sweet," Watson said.
"Well, I've never done this time of year with a partner before so..."
Charlie grinned again.
"It all feels so exciting right now. I never ever thought I'd see the day when I was actually in a position to truly share my life with someone. And I certainly never thought I'd be happy about it!"
"That was weird," Nicole said unhappily. "Do you think that was weird?"
"Aden is weird," Joey replied, trying not to show how awkward she felt.
With Liam away for a gig, Nicole had found Joey and Aden chatting over lunch and joined them. But after a short time, Aden had made his excuses and left.
"Yeah but..."
Nicole sighed, vocalising her worry that she had done something wrong.
"You haven't," Joey assured her, aware that she couldn't share too much without breaking confidences.
"What's wrong with him then?" Nicole asked.
"He's just in a strange place at the moment," Joey said. "He'll get over it. Don't worry."
Spotting a seemingly abandoned car on the side of the road, Charlie and Watson pulled over. Watson immediately called for an ambulance when she found none other than Orson the gardener slumped over his steering wheel, unconscious and oblivious to the world. Leaping into action, Charlie helped Watson get him out of the car in order to try and save his life.
"You're changing too much too soon!" Tony yelled, making everyone including Joey turn and look at him as he squared up to an indignant looking John.
"Look, if you didn't want me on board..."
"I don't want you on board!" Tony snapped. "But I've got no damn choice, have I?"
John looked smug. Joey, who was now sitting alone, with Nicole having disappeared into the kitchen to complain to Irene about Aden, pulled a face. John Palmer seemed to cause misery wherever he went and she doubted that she would ever forgive him for losing her a job running her own trawler. Aside from being a chef, it was all Joey had ever wanted to do and John had ruined the whole thing out of nothing but spite.
By the time Charlie and Joey reunited at home, they were both exhausted. Donna had decided to leave town after hearing what had happened to Orson and while Charlie was hoping to keep her days off, she was concerned that it wasn't going to happen. Joey had nothing concrete to show for her day except a wait for application forms to arrive through the post.
"Well, I propose that we forget all about everything for the next few days and just enjoy ourselves," Charlie said as Joey rubbed her feet. "You'll get the right job at the right time and I'll deal with work as and when I have to. But it's not often that we get to spend this much time together so I want to enjoy it. Especially your birthday and New Year."
She grinned as Joey crept closer and kissed her.
"That sounds wonderful to me," she said.
In his hotel room, Hugo turned his plane ticket over and over in his hands, wondering if he was really ready to leave Martha and his family behind. In his apartment, Angelo lay on the couch watching late night movies and pondering his next move. In his lonely house, Aden sat on the couch, staring at the letter Irene had handed him earlier that afternoon. It was another message from Belle and Irene had told him she thought it was the right time for him to read it. He hadn't opened it and he dreaded to think about what could be inside.
Next time... Aden loses his job, Charlie goes shopping for Joey's birthday and Nicole discovers Liam's infidelity...
